How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen https://a.co/d/7l5Epo0 I haven’t read the book but I did hear him interviewed on the Dishcast podcast. Very insightful. Not really a political book but more about how to better communicate with people, with politics and life in general.
I’ve been eyeing it. I haven’t read any of his books, but he seems worth checking out. I’d be interested to hear about it if anyone gets to it.
At $78 the book is way too expensive. How are common people supposed to afford it? Oops, didn't realize I included a bottle of whiskey worth $60.
If you have access to the NYT, you may enjoy this article in today's online edition. Opinion | How to Stay Sane in Brutalizing Times
I picked this up based on your recommendation. Just finished. Definitely an unexpected experience. First, I thought I was getting a non-fiction book, which of course I was, but I also got a fairly compelling non-fiction work as a bonus. Second, the book appeared to contain within it summaries of almost all the books I’ve read in the past 10-15 years. And many I had never read. I was already an adherent to the perspective of the British enlightenment, as Brooks calls it, so much of his argument aligns with my prior beliefs, but I still think his overall thesis is strong. And his treatment of many of the subjects was quite wonderful. His fiction writing was also surprisingly compelling. So thanks for the recommendation.
I finally got a copy of this from the library, and it was worth the wait. A very deep, humble, and beautiful book underscoring the value of each individual’s humanity and pleading for us to strive to discover it in everyone we encounter. I would recommend it to all.
This thread sent me on a path evidently, as I’ve now read two more books by Brooks: The Road the Character. This is a nice book in which Brooks suggests that we should spend more time on “eulogy virtues” and less on “resume virtues.” Toward this end, Brooks tells many true stories of real people, such as Dwight Eisenhower and George Elliot, who lives exhibited various aspects of character. I didn’t find all of these stories as compelling, but the overall message was admirable. The Second Mountain. I thought this book was an even better version of the narrative as above. Here, instead of biographies, Brooks focuses on the attributes of what makes a good and moral life. Lots of beautiful passages and quotes about how to live well. If I had to recommend one of Brooks’ books, I would go with the one in the OP, How to Know a Person. It’s short and just really lovely, arguing that all people are of value. Ok, I’m probably done reading his books for a while. GatorRade out.
I found a quote by Tolstoy in the book I'd like to share. I try to keep this in mind when I discuss politics. Still, I fail regularly. "One of the commonest and most generally accepted delusions is that every man can be qualified in some particular way -- said to be kind, wicked, stupid, energetic, apathetic, and so on. People are not like that. We may say of a man that he is more often kind than cruel, more often wise than stupid, more often energetic than apathetic or vice versa; but it could never be true to say of one man that he is kind or wise, and of another that he is wicked or stupid. Yet we are always classifying mankind in this way. And it is wrong. Human beings are like rivers; the water is one and the same in all of them but every river is narrow in some places, flows swifter in others; here it is broad, there still, or clear, or cold, or muddy or warm. It is the same with men. Every man bears within him the germs of every human quality, and now manifests one, now another, and frequently is quite unlike himself, while still remaining the same man."
